Thursday, September 6, 2012

Life in a Mongolian ger revolves around a wrought iron
stove. It’s the original central heating that doubles as a device in which
everything is cooked, boiled, steamed, fried, simmered, and cleaned. It is
invariably rusty, stained from daily usage and inlayed with endless knot
regalia. It is crucial and strikingly useful. It is the center of the ger and
the single most used item in the countryside.

Mongolian women spend most of their day around the stove.
They begin their mornings by boiling water. Once the water is boiled, milk and
tea is added to the boiling pot. A large ladle hanging from a chord near the
stove is used to mix the milk and water together. A pinch of salt is mixed into
the pot and an old saucepan is used to strain the milk tea into a pot. The
nozzle of the tea pot is used to transfer the milk tea into a large thermos.
The thermos is generally a bright color, the front of which is decorated by a
floral pattern.

The thermos of milk tea is brought to a small table close to
the back of the ger. It is set on the table next to a plastic bowl filled with
bootsog, a fried pastry cut into small squares. The man of the ger enters and
sits down on a stool next to the table. He greets his wife and daughters with a
nod. His hands are muddy and slightly bloody from pulling a large thorn out of
the hooves of one of his sheep. He reaches for the milk tea and pours it into a
bowl. He finishes the tea quickly. Ochre finger prints remain on the white
bowl. He takes one bootsog, puts it in the front pocket of his shirt, and
leaves the ger.

The oldest daughter takes the pot used to boil the milk tea
outside the ger. She uses an old rag to clean the milky residue off the side of
the pot. She finishes and scoops water out of a plastic container into the pot.
The pot is brought back into the ger and set on the stove. The middle daughter
adds small chunks of wood into the stove. She blows air inside the stove using
a hollow rod and listens for the crackling sound of the embers. While all this
happens, the mother sits on her bed, combing the hair of the youngest daughter.

The water begins to boil on the stove. The oldest daughter
pours most of the hot water into a metal wash bin. With the help of her sister,
she carries the wash bin outside. The middle sister returns to the ger and
grabs a sack of clothing out of a plastic bucket.

The mother sets her youngest daughter on the bed and picks
up two small orange stools. She turns one of the stools upside down near the
stove. She takes the pot full of water off the stove and balances it between
the legs of the overturned stool. The mother sits on the other stool and starts
using the hot water to wash dishes. The youngest daughter wanders outside to
find her sisters.

She finds her sisters sitting around the wash bin on their
heels. Soap suds splash out of the bin. The oldest sister scrubs a pair of
jeans with her bare knuckles. The middle sister reaches for the youngest and
tickles her. The youngest protests and runs back into the ger.

The youngest daughter pays little attention to the small
handheld iron her mother has now set on top of the stove. The youngest runs to
the bed and pulls a pack of playing cards out from beneath the mattress. As she
plays, the middle daughter enters the ger and hands her mother a collared
t-shirt. Using a large wooden cutting board, the mother begins to iron the
collar of shirt with the freshly heated iron that had been sitting on the
stove. As she runs the iron across the shirt, steam rises into the ger.

After the collar is ironed, more wood is added to the stove.
The oldest daughter takes a cart to the nearby river to retrieve water. The
middle daughter and the mother begin cutting slices of kneaded flour into
noodles. They sit around the cutting board next to the stove. The youngest
daughter waddles by with a candy wrapper hanging out of her mouth.

Oil is rubbed onto the noodles and they are cast into a
large pot on top of the stove. As the noodles boil, the middle daughter quickly
cuts a few slivers off a hunk of meat of a carcass they had been storing
outside in their shed. She cuts quickly, precisely, dicing the meat into little
square-shaped pieces. The meat is added to the pot and oily bubbles appear on
top of the water.

The oldest daughter returns with a barrel of water just in
time for lunch. A boy with a cast on his arm from a nearby ger helps her lift
the barrel and place it next to the front door. They eat the soup and the boy
leaves as quickly as he came. The oldest daughter adds water to the pot and
more wood to the stove. As the water boils, she uses butter knife to scrape
dirt from under her nails. She drops the bowls used for lunch into the water.

The dishes are clean and a lull settles over the ger. The
youngest and middle daughters doze off. The mother and oldest daughter retrieve
a large hunk of fat and begin slicing it into manageable chunks. A different
pot is brought in from outside. The bottom of the pot is charred from years of
usage. The middle daughter wakes up and starts sweeping the ger. While the fat
boils on the stove, the oldest daughter kneads a large hunk of dough. With
little pinches, the mother separates the dough into a pile on the cutting board.
She drops the dough into the boiling fat on the stove. She comes back after each
piece of dough has turned a golden brown. Using a strainer, she retrieves the
piping hot pieces and deposits them into a large bucket. The middle daughter
picks out a fresh bootsog and tosses it into her mouth.

The afternoon progresses in short waves of activity and
rest. More flour is kneaded and torn into tiny circles. Diced meat is added to
the circles and the corners are brought together in a pinch. The dumplings are
arranged on the cutting board until the flour and meat is finished. Outside the
ger, the father and his oldest daughter corral the cows and sheep.

A steaming pan is placed into the large pot on the
stove. A splash of water is added and
the mother combs the hair of her youngest daughter until the water is boiling.
She sets the dumpling onto the steaming
tray and once they are steamed, she places them into a large bowl.

The father and his oldest daughter enter the ger. Their
pants are dirty with milk stains and animal droppings. They take off their
boots and huddled around the dumplings. The middle daughter pours tea for her
father, mother, and sister. She holds her youngest sister in her lap as they
eat.

As night settles, the dumplings are devoured and more milk
tea is boiled on the stove. The outside temperature starts to plummet. The father
brings in a stack of wood and deposits it next to the stove. The family changes
into their sleeping clothes and prepares for bed. The oldest daughter relaxes
on the bed across from their parents. The middle daughter sleeps on the floor. The
mother rises in the middle of the night and sticks a few large pieces of wood
into the stove.